Belle is a maid living in service of a handsome prince who she falls madly in love with. Jealous of all the other women and angry at his refusal to notice her she curses him and turns him into a hideous beast. For years they remain together in the c...
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"Where on Earth are you taking me?" I ask Adrien for the hundredth time this hour alone. Mud squelches under my boots and the thin branches from the trees whip my arms and face as we walk.
"What part of it's a surprise didn't you understand?" he chuckles. Walking ahead of me, he reaches back and grabs my hand to pull me further along the half-beaten trail through the forest on the outskirts of the village.
Early this morning Adrien woke me up by luring me out of my deep sleep with the smell of freshly made coffee and biscuits. The second I finished my meal and drink I was forced to rush around my room and throw on the first outfit I could find. Without telling me anything about where we were going, Adrien grabbed me by the hand and pulled me out of my room, down the stairs, and out of the inn. We rushed past the stables and down the cobbled streets toward the stone archway that marks the entrance to the village.
"You know I hate surprises," I mumble and rip my hand out of his tight grip.
"Well, I think you'll love this one."
I sigh and roll my eyes. "You've been telling me that ever since we left the inn and I'm still not enjoying this," I say. Reaching out to the side of me I snap a thin branch off a bush and start playing with it.
He chuckles and slightly turns his head to face me. "You know you're the only girl I know that hates surprises. And that's strange to me."
"You've known me for over two months and you still get surprised by me saying things."
"I will always be surprised by things that you say, louve. After all, you are the strangest person in all of France. Probably the whole world."
I flick my wrist and whip him on the shoulder with the branch causing him to jump in surprise and let out an odd mix between a scream and a chuckle.
We remain silent for the rest of the walk. Silently we trudge up steep and rocky paths, squeeze ourselves through dense bushes and duck under the multitude of low-hanging branches littered on our path.
"We're almost there," Adrien announces as he points to what looks like an opening through the trees.
We push ourselves to get through the last stretch and eventually made it to the small clearing positioned on the top of the hill.
My eyes widen and my jaw drops as I gaze out at the wonder below me. Adrien had led me to the top of the highest hill overlooking the area.
"So tell me, do you like the surprise?" he asks and I don't even have to look at him to know that he's smiling.
I nod. Allowing my feet to shuffle me closer to the edge I gaze out at the lush and rolling green hills and stare fondly at the silhouette of Belles Collins.
"It looks so small from here."
From the corner of my eye, I watch him nod as he takes a seat, his eyes glued to the village looking back at us from the distance.
